Singapore's Architecture

The architecture of Singapore displays a range of influences
and styles from different places and periods. These range from the eclectic
styles and hybrid forms of the colonial period to the tendency of more
contemporary architecture to incorporate trends from around the world. In both
aesthetic and technological terms, Singapore architecture may be divided into
the more traditional pre-World War II colonial period, and the largely modern
post-war and post-colonial period.

Traditional architecture in Singapore includes vernacular
Malay houses, local hybrid shophouses and black and white bungalows, a range of
places of worship reflecting the ethnic and religious diversity of the
city-state as well as colonial civic and commercial architecture in European
Neoclassical, gothic, palladian and renaissance styles.

Modern architecture in Singapore began with the transitional
Art Deco style and the arrival of reinforced concrete as a popular building
material. International Style modern architecture was popular from the 1950s to
the 1970s, especially in the public housing apartment blocks. The Brutalist
style of architecture was also popular in the 1970s. These styles coincided
with the great urban renewal and building boom periods in Singapore history,
and consequently these are the most common architectural styles seen on the
island. Some of the more architecturally significant works of this period
include Pearl Bank Apartments by Tan Cheng Siong, and the People's Park Complex
and Golden Mile Complex by Design Partnership.

Post-modern architecture experiments, in both the 'historicist'
and deconstructivist modes made an appearance in the 1980s, though the style
was relatively muted in its expression. Another architectural trend has been
the rediscovery of Singapore's architectural heritage, leading to an active
conservation programme as well as a booming industry in the restoration of
historic buildings, often adapting them to new uses. A recent example is the
National Museum of Singapore.

An important area of local innovation has involved seeking
to develop a form of modern architecture appropriate to Singapore's tropical
climate. This climatically sensitive approach to architecture traces its roots
back to the vernacular Malay houses and through to experiments by British
colonial architects and early local nationalist architects to devise an
authentically local architecture using modern construction methods. In the
1980s and especially from the late 1990s, this has led to a proliferation of
what might be called 'modern tropical' architecture, or neo-tropical
architecture. It involves a return to clean and simple rectilinear modernist
forms, coupled with an emphasis of lush landscaping and sleek sun-shading in
the form of metal or wood louvres, instead of the modernist glass curtain wall,
which admits and traps solar heat. These architectural efforts have taken on a
new relevance and urgency due to concerns about global warming, climate change
and environmental sustainability, especially given that air conditioning in
buildings is one of the largest consumers of electricity in Singapore, which is
mostly generated by fossil fuels.

From the late 1990s, like many other global cities and
aspiring global cities, the Singapore government consciously launched a drive
to develop 'iconic' landmarks in the city, as a means to strengthening the
Singapore brand identity as well as to attract foreign tourists, skilled
immigrants, investments and buzz. Several such landmark projects have since
been developed, sometimes through open or closed architectural design
competitions. These include the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay arts centre,
the Supreme Court of Singapore, the new National Library, Singapore, the
upcoming Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort and the Singapore Flyer.